~ Episode 9: No Limit (3) ~

Hello everyone! Today we're meeting up again to talk about the 9th episode of the popular TV show "Kingdom Legendary War". Last week we saw the performances of Stray Kids and Ikon. In this week's episode we'll see the remaining performances of round 2 of "No Limit" from SF9, BtoB, Ateez and The Boyz. This article will be split into two parts: The first one will be about commenting the performances, and the second will be about commenting the finale tracks that were released a couple of days ahead of the show’s finale.

No Limit round 2: Performances (pt. 2)

The Boyz

This time, The Boyz performed their own version of EXO's "Monster". The highlight of this performance was a... diamond snake. Yeah, I have no other words to qualify that thing so please bear with me. I honestly didn't grab the concept of that performance. I could see no link between the song itself and the performance. Yes, The Boyz are amazing performers and their choreography was amazing. But is that a "No Limit" worthy performance? In my humble opinion, no. I wouldn't call that performance a "No Limit" performance, because they just relied on a giant prop, and that's it. They didn't show a skill we didn't know they had, they haven't done a collaboration stage that only them could do, they haven't sang a song that only them could sing, etc. I maybe am a bit harsh on that one, but we're getting close to the finale, and at this point of the competition everyone is good at everything. You have to distinguish yourself from the others with unique performances, performances that only YOU can do, and here it was a performance that any other group could've done. 

BTOB

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is "Blue Moon" cinema version starring BTOB and (G)-IDLE's Miyeon. Seriously, this performance was so pleasant to watch! I catched myself smiling all the time. Now the song arrangement in itself is not that surprising because the original song already had that jazzy almost musical vibe. However, they did accentuate the musical aspect with the sets, the costumes, and the storyline. I was maybe expecting a little bit more choreography-wise, but I still found that performance amazing. Good job BTOB!

ATEEZ

Ah... Ateez. I've known Ateez since their debut, and I've watched them grow up. I know what these guys are capable of and it frustrates me so much every time they perform! Look, the idea of mixing two songs that have nothing to do with each other is a tough challenge, and I applaud the audacity and risk they have taken, and bringing a choir or whatever it is called is a good idea too. HOWEVER, it really felt like watching the same performances over and over again... I'm not saying that they're bad performers, they have an amazing energy on stage. But they keep doing the same concept! It's good to have a continuous storyline but you have to keep showing something new every time, and here it's like we're not moving from the starting point. And maybe it's because I like the original version so much but it felt like "Ode to Joy" was too different to be mixed with "Answer". And this is why it frustrates me, because I know what they are capable of. 

SF9

I'm proud to say that the caterpillar transformed into a majestic butterfly. This performance is the performance I've been dying to see from SF9. I think they were still uneasy with the competition format, because the performances on that show are not just regular performances, they are shot in a very specific way, and they have multiple constraints. But this performance was really worth the "No Limit" title. First, choosing "Move" from Taemin (whom I consider being the incarnation of art) is a bold move in itself. Second, the human tree at the start had a great impact. Third, the chorus. Give me something that's sexier than that. Fourth, Zuho's rap and his iconic line "I'm the male version of Venus". That line is still stuck in my head until now. Fifth, the whole colours concept. They start with black & white and they finish with a palette of colours. If that's not genius, I don't know what it is. Last but not least,  SIR YOO TAEYANG. That song was made for him. That's it, I'm done :)

 

No Limit round 2 final results & my personal ranking

After a long third round, the groups can finally rest a bit (if I felt like this round was long, I cannot imagine how tiring it was for them). It was announced on episode 8 that team Mayfly was the winner of the 3 battles, making ATEEZ, Stray Kids and BtoB win 15,000 points each. Now for the second round of round 3 (remember that round 3, "No Limit", was divided into 2 rounds), here are the final results:

First place: SF9

Second place: Stray Kids

Third place: BtoB

Fourth place: The Boyz

Fifth place: Ikon

Sixth place: ATEEZ

On my twitter account (if you'd like to follow me, you just have to click here), I asked you guys what was your favourite performance of this episode, and your answer was, with 43% of the votes: SF9.

Here's my personal ranking for the second round of "No Limit", it's a bit similar to the official one, except for the last three positions:

First place : SF9

Second place: Stray Kids

Third place: BtoB

Fourth place: Ikon

Fifth place: Ateez

Sixth place: The Boyz

It hurts me to place Ateez and The Boyz that low, but for this round, I wouldn't qualify their performances of "No Limit" for the reasons I gave earlier. 

 

My opinion on the finale tracks

Stray Kids' "Wolfgang"

The song is a very powerful song full with electronic sounds and a lot of autotune as many other Stray Kids songs. I really like the melody at the start and in the pre-chorus with that sort of electric guitar (I don't know if that's really an electric guitar but it sounds like it), but I find the song too rap-centric, not really leaving space for vocalists to shine. I also wished the chorus was more melodious instead of having growls and howls. I do imagine them doing a very powerful stage with a lot of details as they've been doing it since the beginning of the competition. For now I'm not very fond of the song, but the performance might surprise me. 

SF9's "Believer"

Among all the finale tracks, this song sounds the most Kpop to me. It's good in the sense that more people are inclined to like it, but it's also dangerous because it's a sound that has been already done in the past and I'm afraid the performance won't be of a big scale. It's a strategy that I respect, I just don't want them to go back in their comfort zone, because what they've shown us this week was pure genius and I don't want to be disappointed by a too mainstream performance. 

The Boyz's "Kingdom Come"

"Kingdom Come" is not that different from "Checkmate" if you listen closely to the song. It has that "Battle" vibe they had in "Checkmate". I wonder if they're going to go for a similar performance or not, but Checkmate's performance was really amazing, so I wouldn't be mad to have a 2.0 version. I think it was a pretty hard journey for The Boyz to still outdo themselves when they did that in every round of "Road to Kingdom". I'm still very proud of them at the end of the day, and I'm sure I'll enjoy that last performance from them.

Ateez's "The Real"

This song has an "oriental" touch that I find really interesting, it reminds me a bit of "Pirate King" (their debut song) and "Answer" as well. I'm happy that Mingi's voice in it, but I'm sad he didn't participate in the show at all. I'm starting to miss him a lot, he's been absent since November 2020. I really hope they include new elements in the stage that would make the stage more interesting and innovative, something different than the usual pirate elements.

Ikon's "At Ease"

This song screams Ikon from start to end. YG artists have a very distinct signature sound and this song is no exception. What I really like in this song is the pre-chorus (with June's amazing vocals), and the chanting right before the drop. And the last portion of the song? That's what I meant by very distinct signature sound. I don't know what the performance will look like, but I'm very excited. 

BtoB's "Show and Prove"

The beginning of the song reminds me of the song "The greatest show" from the greatest showman, and so I can picture them doing a very theatrical stage. Imagine a mix between their "Missing you stage" and their "Blue Moon" stage. I don't know if that makes sense but anyway. That song is just amazing, and they have the perfect balance between vocals and rap! It's not an all-rap song, but it's not an all-vocals song either. Every member gets to shine, and I seriously cannot wait to watch the performance. I'm sure they'll do something grand and beautiful.

I ran a poll on my instagram again, and I was shocked by two things: first, the amount of people who voted, and second, the gap between the winner and the other groups! There were 4,790 votes (twitter doesn't allow a poll to have more than 4 options so I made 2 polls with a total of 4,790 votes), and the winner is, with 79%, *DRUMROLL*... BTOB! I don't know if it's because most of the people who voted were fans of BtoB, but the gap was really important, and I do agree with you at the end of the day, even though I'm an ikonic, an atiny, a stay, a fantasy, and a The B at the same time. 

That's it for Kingdom Legendary War episode 9. I'll see you next week for the debrief of the finale! It kind of felt short now that I look back on everything, but everything has to come to an end at some point. Take care until then!

Love, Swan

 

Sources: Mnet's official YouTube channel, LQ Kpop YouTube channel.